A 27-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with bullet wounds of the abdomen and right arm, and swelling and pain in the left periorbital region.

A short time before, the patient allegedly had held a number of people at gunpoint, threatening to commit mass murder and suicide. Details of what occurred immediately thereafter are not entirely clear, but several shots were fired. According to the patient: "He—a man on the right—made a sudden move. I got scared and shot. I next remember being knocked down." According to other information, one man in the group did make a sudden move and was mortally wounded by the patient. Before he died, however, he grabbed for the patient's gun. In the ensuing struggle a second man was wounded. The patient himself was shot and fell to the floor. He tried to get up, but was hit on the head and lost consciousness.